Wearing the same 1960s outfit that he often wore in high school, Calvin Richardson reminisced Saturday about a “simpler time” when his family moved from Virginia to Ventura in June 1967.

“It was the Summer of Love,” recalled the 64-year-old. “My brother went out and got 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' which was on everybody’s turntable that summer. No matter where you walked around, you could hear The Doors’ 'Light My Fire' coming out of all the cars all summer long.

"It was an amazing time.”

Richardson and his wife, Nancy, stepped 50 years back in time on Saturday as they visited the Museum of Ventura County for the unveiling of its new exhibit, “Summer of Love.” Featuring about 250 nostalgic items on loan from local residents, the exhibit is planned to be on display through Aug. 27, although it opened even as the museum said that unless it gets an infusion of funding quickly, the facility could close by the end of July.

As part of the exhibit's kickoff, several Volkswagen Beetles were on display, and 1960s-era music played nonstop in the background. Guests made tie-dyed shirts and played Twister.

Richardson showed up wearing the same 501 Levi button-fly jeans emblazoned with patches that he wore throughout high school, along with the same long-sleeve striped shirt and brown vest that completed his outfit.

“This is no costume," he said. "These are my clothes from back in the day."

Other fashions were part of the museum's display, including two fringe leather jackets, an embroidered jean jacket and a pair of jeans that were converted into a skirt — something Susan Fragala, of Camarillo, instantly recognized.

“I had a jean skirt – my mom took the jeans apart and put that panel in,” exclaimed Fragala, who was born in 1958. “I was young when this was all happening, but in high school, we wore all these clothes because they were cool.”

A selection of record album covers is displayed for the "Summer of Love" exhibit at the Museum of Ventura County on Saturday. The museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the famed summer.
CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR

Vintage automobiles are displayed for the "Summer of Love" exhibit at the Museum of Ventura County on Saturday in Ventura. The museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the famed summer.
CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR

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The exhibit also reminded Fragala of her brother’s Dodge van with green shag carpet inside.

“All the guys had long hair and the weddings were really simple back then,” she recalled. “It was just a kinder, simpler time. Nobody was hanging out on their phones. Everybody knew everybody growing up. Everybody kept an eye on everybody and you didn’t have this anonymity. You could agree to disagree without being disagreeable.”

Mark Tovar appreciated the vinyl record covers on display. The Doors, Roberta Flack, Simon & Garfunkel and Janis Joplin were among those represented.

“It’s just the beauty of that period of time,” said Tovar, 68, of Ojai, who graduated from high school in 1967. “I saw The Byrds, I saw Cream, a lot of the early bands. That was the connection to kids at the time — dancing, going crazy and smoking pot."

He was hoping a visit to the museum would bring back some of that.

“I just wanted to experience the '60s again — the music, the camaraderie, the love,” Tovar said. “We live in tumultuous times, and I think people are looking for that escape to their memories when things were good — especially seniors.”

The Museum of Ventura County has seen its greatest success “when the community helps us tell their stories,” said Megan Gately, director of education and outreach. “I’ve always found that people are much more interested in everyday people’s experience than stars and celebrities. They like to know what people like them were doing.”

This exhibit does that, she said.

“What I love about what we put together here is that we get to all celebrate this together,” Gately added. “It’s our community sharing artifacts and stories.”

William Dennis, who was born in 1943 and now owns the Ventura Surf Shop, said he was happy to loan his surfboard to the exhibit.

“That was a period in my life that was pretty crazy," Dennis said. "We used to listen to this music so loud. In the ‘60s it was free love, patchouli oil and marijuana — it was very different."

Exhibit Curator Anna Bermudez said she was pleased with how many people in the community provided their personal items for the show.

“We called people out on Facebook and Instagram and the community responded,” she said. “People were so willing to donate and share what they have.”

Richardson, for one, was also pleased with the result.

"This exhibit is wonderful for us who lived through it," he said. "It’s great to relive it.”

It wasn't just the clothes and the music that were different, he noted.

“Mostly the attitudes and the mindset of questioning authority, questioning the government, questioning the politics, questioning the way of life as we live it today,” he said. “We have strayed from the way that we live, the way we treat one another.”